Credit: NetflixStranger Things has experienced plenty of turbulence since Season 5 Volume 1 premiered at the end of November last year. But Volume 2 faced even more criticism than the first. However, it was the final-ever episode, “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up”, that divided fans.
Many were so angry with how the finale turned out that they launched online petitions demanding a do-over from Netflix, while a wild fan theory dubbed “Conformity Gate” — which claimed the ending was fake and that another final episode would drop — went viral.
Stranger Things Will Continue
For many, the hit series, which launched in 2016 and spawned an entire multimedia franchise, crashed and burned. One Last Adventure, the Season 5 documentary that followed, did little to help matters, as it revealed that the Duffer brothers started shooting the fifth season without a finished script for the final episode.
But while the flagship series is over, the franchise will continue. Not only is there a live-action spinoff in development, later this year, the 3D animated series Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 will premiere.
What’s Tales From ’85 About?
Tales From ’85 takes place during the winter of 1985, which positions it firmly between seasons 2 and 3. It reintroduces Eleven, Will, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Max, and a new character named Nikki Baxter, as they try to unravel a new paranormal mystery haunting their town and face terrifying new threats from the Upside Down.
“Welcome back to Hawkins in the winter of 1985, where the original characters face new monsters — and a paranormal mystery — in this epic animated series,” Netflix’s blurb reads.
An official announcement teaser released a few months ago teases snippets of the animated characters in action, with commentary from the Duffer brothers and showrunner and executive producer Eric Robles. Watch it below:
“What we’ve been able to capture is the magic of Hawkins in a new way,” Robles says in the video, adding, “So get your flashlight, get your backpack, because it’s going to be amazing.”
Tales From ’85 is heavily inspired by Saturday morning cartoons from the ’80s, with Robles previously citing The Real Ghostbusters as the creative team’s “north star”.
New Stranger Things Trailer Arrives
While little has been revealed since the announcement trailer a few months ago besides some additional images of the characters in action, yesterday, Stranger Things shared a new Tales From ’85 poster across social media.
In bird’s eye view, we see Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Nikki in a snowy setting where El holds back a new Upside Down creature with her powers. Captioned with the poster are the words “teaser tomorrow” (which have been turned upside down, no less).
ʍoɹɹoɯoʇ ɹǝsɐǝʇ pic.twitter.com/pBhgKtQp3T
— stranger things (@Stranger_Things) February 1, 2026
Related: Main ‘Stranger Things’ Storyline Being Rewritten, New Episodes Coming Soon
Now, we finally have our first trailer for the upcoming series, which you can check out here:
Tales From ’85 looks like a lot of fun, but whether the series can capture the magic of its live-action counterpart remains to be seen. Many fans are also worried that Tales From ’85 breaks canon merely by existing. After all, it features new characters and new monsters from the Upside Down that were never mentioned from Season 3 onwards.
But, as Robles has described The Real Ghostbusters as the team’s “north star”, it’s worth remembering that while the popular ’80s cartoon series dovetailed off the original 1984 film Ghostbusters, it essentially did its own thing; introducing new monsters in each episode that were never mentioned in the movie sequels.
Either way, Tales From ’85 will change how fans view the main series. Looking specifically at the new trailer itself, it seems that its monsters are some sort of mutated creatures born from residual Upside Down matter left behind in Hawkins in Season 2.
Tales From ’85 Cast and Release Date
Sadly, the cast from the main series won’t be reprising their roles in the new series. That means there’ll be no Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Millie Bobby Brown, David Harbour, Natalia Dyer, Sadie Sink, or the rest of the lineup.
Tales From ’85 stars Brett Gipson (Jim Hopper), Luca Diaz (Mike Wheeler), Brooklyn Davey Norstedt (Eleven), Braxton Quinney (Dustin Henderson), Elisha Williams (Lucas Sinclair), Ben Plessala (Will Byers), and Jolie Hoang-Rappaport (Max Mayfield), and Odessa A’zion, Janeane Garofalo, and Lou Diamond Phillips in undisclosed roles.
It premieres on Netflix on April 23.
Stranger Things seasons 1 — 5 are now streaming on Netflix.
Are you excited about Tales From ’85? What do you think of the new trailer? Let us know in the comments!